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Abstract
Popular participation lies at the core of democratic governance, yet the mediated conversation of politics has largely been limited to elite sources and professional journalists. New technological alternatives to the mass communication model create opportunities for the non-elite “demotic voice” in the mediated public sphere. However, the expansion of who speaks is not without tensions or efforts by traditionally powerful voices to retain control over communication channels. This article analyzes struggles surrounding the growing role of the demotic voice through a case study analysis of the 2007 CNN/YouTube debates among candidates for the US presidency.